Jacksonville Company Designs Helmet To Detect And Prevent Concussions

The NFL season is over, but the concern over sports concussions is as alive as ever.

It’s a health issue that is dogging not just the NFL, but youth sports as well, with a growing number of parents saying they won’t allow their sons to play football or other high-contact sports.

Against this background, a local firm has developed new technology that could reduce the impact of concussions.

Rick Johnson and Jim Ryan of Sports Technologies LLC and Dr. Jerry Merkel of the University of North Florida's College of Computing, Engineering and Construction joined Melissa Ross to discuss the "Concussion Detection and Reduction Helmet System."

Listen

Listening...

/

7:33

First Coast Connect: Rick Johnson and Jim Ryan of Sports Technologies LLC and Dr. Jerry Merkel of the University of North Florida's College of Computing, Engineering and Construction.

The helmet technology developed by Sports Technologies LLC goes beyond just the abatement of concussions, but also provides medical sensors that avail information about the wearer in real-time.

This medical information, through telemetry, goes into a database for comparison of how the helmet wearer is progressing. It records alpha waves, blood pressure, EEG and EKG, hydration, and other factors.

"There's a tremendous effort right now to resolve this issue to protect our children and our professional athletes," said Johnson. "This helmet is designed to do all it can to abate the problem and to look at the vital signs and all the medical information within the player."